Historic Arcade to reopen with stores first, micro-lofts later

PROVIDENCE — One year, eight months and 27 days ago, the owner of the Arcade promised to reopen America’s oldest indoor mall. Monday morning, the ribbon will be cut.

By Alisha A. Pina

PROVIDENCE — One year, eight months and 27 days ago, the owner of the Arcade promised to reopen America’s oldest indoor mall.

Evan Granoff also declared the historic revival will “increase the energy in our city” and be a needed economic boost for downtown and the state.

His assertions will begin to be tested Monday.

At least 11 of Arcade Providence’s 17 new stores will officially open after a 10:15 a.m. ribbon cutting. Governor Chafee and Mayor Angel Taveras plan to join Granoff and others for the celebration at the Westminster Street entrance.

“It’s unbelievable,” Granoff, of 130 Westminster Street Associates LLC, said on Friday. “I was expecting it to open sooner, but now it’s finally here.”

Granoff initially planned an aggressive construction schedule to reopen all three levels and the basement of the 1828 granite building by the fall of 2012 — “unique” local shops and restaurants on the first floor and 48 micro-lofts on the second and third floors. A bike garage and storage for the tenants is planned for the basement.

Getting to the bones of the 185-year-old structure — complicated by surprises found along the way — took longer than expected. Costly historic mandates also raised the price — from a projected $7million to about $10 million. Granoff didn’t get a certificate of occupancy from the city until two weeks ago.

It is why Monday is being called a soft, partial opening of stage one. The other shops — including restaurants Rogue Island and Livi’s Pockets — will open later this fall. That Guy, a furniture-restoration business run by Guy Lemoines, may only need another day or so. The floor of his shop was being installed Friday.

By the end of the year, residents might be living in the lofts, which Granoff believes will make the Arcade economically self-sustaining. Most of these apartments — priced as low as $550 a month and including all utilities — are less than 270 square feet and include a private bath, small kitchen, built-in bed and seating. Ten others will be larger, from 500 to more than 800 square feet, with two or three bedrooms.

The retail spaces range from 641 to 2,300 square feet, with the two largest to offer outdoor seating. A few also have an additional entrance so they can stay open later than the Arcade’s 9 p.m. closing. New Harvest, a coffee and single malt whiskey bar, was able to open last week because of its other entrance. It is the first storefront for the wholesale roaster company, based in Pawtucket.“I really feel like it’s a crowning achievement for downtown,” New Harvest owner Rik Kleinfeldt said Friday. His shop has some of the 48,000-square-foot building’s original brick exposed as part of its ambiance.

The Arcade, once the center of a thriving financial district, has been empty since 2008. After it closed, the Providence Preservation Society placed it on its “Ten Most Endangered Properties” in Providence list.

It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.

“The building itself is artwork, so I thought this was the place to be,” said Manga Shuman, owner of the only art gallery — Adirah — inside the Arcade. Named after his Kenyan mother, the store sells art, sculptures and masks from at least 25 African countries.

One ceremonial iron and wood mask from Mali — Shuman says it is 250 years old — was priced at $25,000.

“I loved what Evan was doing, and moved to be a part of it,” he said. Previously, the gallery was down the road, on Orange Street.

It is the first storefront of many in the Arcade, including local jewelry artist Jessica Ricci, who reworks objects she found in markets and bazaars around the world to create her pieces. They include ancient keys from Tibet, a 2,000-year-old coin from Israel, lace from Buenos Aires and antique prayer cards from Italy.

The 40-year-old’s shop is designed to show the whole process. Her workshop is in the back of the store.

“Project Runway” season 7 contestant Jonathan Joseph Peters, who is originally from Woonsocket, and five designer friends plan to have minimal decorations in their store, Nude. Its slogan: Local Talent Exposed.

“All the pops of color will be the clothes,” Peters said Friday as fellow designer Jess Abernethy dressed a mannequin. Holding up a pair of high-waist wool pants, she described her pieces as classic and timeless.

Peters, creative director for StyleWeek Northeast, says he is the “control freak” who mostly talks for the team — five of them design clothing and one makes handbags.

“When you open a store, it’s like your baby,” he said, noting the passion they have to create their vision.

Peters says he is also obsessed with the Arcade, and will be one of its residents when the lofts are ready.